Goats
Aries | The Baby Goats | Billy | Chi Ping & Elly May | Corey | Daisy & Donald | Dawson | Delilah | Espresso | Frannie | Holly & Tinker | Jake | Madeline | Nubie | Pepe | Percy | Rascal | Sarge | Snowflake, Manny, & Goat Boy | Sunshine | Ted
Goat Boy, Snowflake, and Manny are one happy family at Ching, but their story is also a good lesson to new volunteers!
Snowflake came to Ching when she was just 2 months old in 1998 with Norma, and Nedra (RIP) from Thanksgiving Point petting zoo. She had missed that season's round of breeding so they had no use for her and turned her over to Faith. She lives happily at the sanctuary, but note that she was never spayed. The risk to spay most of our female goats is too great compared to just fixing all the males, which is much less risky.
Goat Boy (aka Musky to some volunteers because he was very smelly and musky when he first arrived) literally showed up at our front gate in 2005. He was un-neutered, and attached to a 16-foot lead rope that was frayed at one end. We took him into a secure stall and posted signs and ads around town to see if anyone would claim him. Nobody ever did, although we only waited 2-weeks to get him in to be neutered.
As all volunteers will learn, every animal at the sanctuary is in their area for a very good reason. Many of the animals in the special-needs section would be killed if they were let out, or more dominant animals let in. It is critically important to not let any animals follow volunteers thru gates. So of course, a volunteer accidently let Goat Boy out before his vet appointment and by the time we were able to catch him, he had impregnated Snowflake! (Honestly we are grateful she was the only one. . . ). The poor volunteer is terribly sorry about the whole incident to this day! Early 2006 Manny was born and he is the spitting image of his father, they are often mistaken for each other. The whole family are still close, Manny is always found with either his father or his mother, they have a very close bond.
Pictured are Snowflake (left) and Manny (right). Elly May is in the background.